Houses of Parliament, Westminster, London.English Heritage, National Monuments Record/Heritage-ImagesA royal palace was said to have existed at the site under the Danish king of EnglandCanute. The building, however, spoken of by William Fitzstephen as an “incomparable structure,” was built for Edward the Confessor in the 11th century and enlarged by William I (the Conqueror). In 1512 the palace suffered greatly from fire and thereafter ceased to be used as a royal residence. St. Stephen’s Chapel was used by 1550 for the meetings of the House of Commons, held previously in the chapter house of Westminster Abbey; the Lords used another apartment of the palace. A fire in 1834 destroyed the whole palace except the historic Westminster Hall, the Jewel Tower, the cloisters, and the crypt of St. Stephen’s Chapel.